2006-11-18 01:45:45 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Unfortunately, your cynical observation is quite insightful; for all who are born will eventually die ... one way or another.
2006-11-18 02:08:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Assuming the free radical theory of aging is correct, which much scientific evidence supports, aging is a product of our own evolution.
I'll try to explain this as simply as I can.
According to the endosymbiotic hypothesis, mitochondria are the result of one single celled organism engulfing another single celled organism. The outside cell remained a cell, performing many different functions. The inside cell became a mitochondria (or chloroplast), specializing in only the production of energy. The presence of mitochondria within cells allowed for greater energy production and therefore the evolution of multicellular organisms.
While mitochondria allow for large, multicellular organisms, they also produce free radicals as a by product of oxidative phosphorylation (what produces ATP, or energy for the cell). These free radicals cause damage to cells, including damage to DNA. This damage leads to senescence and the traits we interpret as aging.
In a sense, mitochondria provide a great example of an evolutionary trade off. While they allow us to be what we are today, they also cause us to age. There is evidence that prokaryotes, like bacteria, do not age.
Just a little food for thought and, of course, a lot of speculation based on limited scientific evidence and theory.
2006-11-18 18:30:46 · answer #2 · answered by claykenny 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not just a terminal disease, it is a sexually transmitted terminal disease, for which there is no cure!
2006-11-18 01:53:45 · answer #3 · answered by Sue 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
life is not permanent but it's not a disease for sure!!!!.....life seems to be a disease for people who has a psychiatric or personality disorder but it's perfect for normal people.
2006-11-18 04:04:25 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
-- The Narrator in Fight Club
2006-11-18 02:03:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
. . . . well . . . . life is terminal. But I don't think it's a disease.
2006-11-18 01:47:12 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes?... but if i could marry the child of a centurion [ someone who lives past a 100] then i would, because they have healthier children from what i read somewhere, but that should be obvious.
2006-11-18 01:49:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, life is spirit and spirit is awareness that will never die. Biology is a chemical reaction that's apears to be alive, like fire.
2006-11-18 02:17:02 · answer #8 · answered by spir_i_tual 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yeah, we're all gonna die sooner or later, one way or the other.
2006-11-18 02:05:33 · answer #9 · answered by Ha Ha! 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
absolutely, couldn't have found better words myself...
2006-11-18 01:54:59 · answer #10 · answered by Megan P 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋